Michigan

Scouting Report: Jon Kitna

Jon Kitna is better than you think. Go back to last season when Kitna played one of his "worst'' games, the 28-21 loss to the New England Patriots. Kitna's two fourth-quarter interceptions killed any chance to win for the Lions, who had outplayed the Patriots for most of that game. Kitna, though, had actually played at a very high level to keep the Lions in that game, throwing for more than 300 yards against one of the best defenses in the league.

But that's Kitna in a nutshell - he'll play very well for most of the game but then make the mistake or two that overshadows everything else.

AP Photo/Paul SancyaJon Kitna throws during minicamp in Allen Park on May 15, 2007. Kitna could have a Pro Bowl-caliber season in 2007.

And rightly so, because it's how a quarterback delivers in the fourth quarter that shapes his team's ability to win on a consistent level.

Kitna has the weapons (and coaching staff) around him to become a Pro Bowl quarterback, but he must eliminate the mistakes. That's entirely possible because the bulk of Kitna's mistakes come (and he'd probably admit this) when he tries to do too much. It's those times when he loses patience or feels he has to make the big play to spark the team that he gets himself into trouble. Now, there are plenty of times when Kitna does deliver that big play, but he has to know when to pull in the reins.

When you watch Kitna on tape from last year, he really did have an outstanding year. His ability to throw with timing and accuracy were very good and his mobility, intelligence and anticipation got them out of a lot of bad plays. The thing you have to understand about this offense is that when there's a bad throw, there's a very good chance it's on the receivers, not the quarterback. Whether it's a blown route or simply not running it correctly, it can make the quarterback look pretty bad - and that happened a lot.

Again, that's very difficult to see unless you go back and look at the tapes and realize what the Lions were trying to accomplish and how they were trying to do it. When you do that, it's easy to see why head coach Rod Marinelli was steadfast in his decision not to bench Kitna. At the time, I thought it was just because of Kitna's leadership and the fact Marinelli was trying to keep the team together and knew a change in quarterback could unravel that.

While some of that is true, the fact is that Kitna wasn't the main problem. There will always be some physical mistakes - that's the nature of competitive athletics - but Kitna was executing that offense at a very high level and everybody in the locker room knew it. Even with his mistakes, Kitna have the Lions a much better chance to win than Josh McCown did.

So, those of you who believe rookie Drew Stanton will be thrown in there the first time Kitna hits a rough patch of road, think again. This coaching staff is solidly behind Kitna, not just because they think he's tough and smart, but because they know what he brings to the offense.

With the addition of rookie Calvin Johnson and former Mike Martz player Shaun McDonald - and the year's experience of Roy Williams - the Lions passing game could really take off this year - and it will. There's no question that Kitna is going to put up some Pro Bowl numbers; the only question is whether he can limit his mistakes and actually earn that free trip to Honolulu.

Note: Keep up with the Lions daily during the offseason, all the way up to training camp, with my scouting report on each player on the roster. Each report is open to your opinions and analysis in the comments area below.